gtxl1200
Contributor
This was supposed to be my Oriskany dive report but unfortunately two days of trying it was a NO go. Yesterday morning with viking diving we did try to get to the Oriskany. For those of you that arent aware of what and where the Oriskany is. It is an Air craft Carrier that was sunk for the purpose of an artificial reef and dive site. It lies in 212 feet to the sand 25miles of the coast of Pensacola Florida. You can read more about it hear This distance is the reason for a no go. After an hour of travel time yesterday morning and the waves reaching 10ft swells the captain finally decided to make the decision that it would take us at least another 2 hours to get to the site and the conditions were worsening. So a long and sad discussion amongst the 5 of us divers we decided to make the call of turn around and we would do some in shore dives. So these are the dives I did.
Dive 1
Liberty ship. This ship was a freighter during the World War II when the government would take them over and convert them to troop or material haulers for the war effort they would give these ships the name Liberty ships. This dive started off bad to begin with and got worse. I was originally suppose to buddy up with the captain since he was going to be doing some video taping of the Oriskany. Since now we were no longer doing the Oriskany the captain says he isnt diving so buddies me up with another couple. But he doesnt do that until after we are anchored. The other catch is the female of the two was very seasick so she was already geared up and off the side of the boat so she could feel better. So she doesnt even know Im diving with her. Her husband knows but jumps over before we can even discuss dive plan turn around time or equipment or anything. I quickly get geared up and jump over the side of the boat. I usually have my camera strap around my wrist but since I was hurrying the dive master just handed it to me once I rolled off the side. So I quickly descend and now my routine is all screwed up I just do my normal thing ear clearing and getting BCD inflator hose ready. And then I realized Im not holding my camera yep you got it it fell to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. So I quickly find my buddies and give them the OK sign even though it isnt Im really ticked off all I want to do is go back and look for my camera but I know if I leave them they wont understand what is going on. So I completed the dive as the best as I could. The ship itself is basically a pile of steel on the bottom not much of it looks like a ship at all. The Vis was about 30 feet when we started and got down to at least 15 or less by the end of the dive. So actually it was like diving in the lakes at home but warmer. I saw my very first MOON Jelly. That was very interesting. Other than that the dive was very uninteresting. Good news though the last group off the side of the boat seen my camera laying on the bottom and brought it back on board for me THANK YOU THANK YOU
Max depth 89 fsw
32 minutes
80 degree at depth.
Dive 2
Material Barges. Didnt get a dive brief on these so I assume they were barges sunk on purpose after they were no more of use to any one. These were in worst shape then the first ones. Looked more like a pile of metal junk spread out on the bottom. There were a few schools of fish but mostley juveniles. I saw another Huge MOON JELLY for some reason Im really fascinated with them now. The viz on this dive was about 50 feet. This dive was very uneventful even took some pictures. I will post them later I dont have any editing software on my laptop.
Max depth 55fsw
50 minutes
84 degrees
Unfortunatly Today the wind was blowing even harder so no attempt was made to go at all.
Even though I came here to dive the Oriskany and didnt get too I still got a couple of dives in and got to see a couple of new sites.
I leave tomorrow for the Florida Keys so stay tuned for some more Dive reports. Im supposed to hook up with or old friend Frankenmuth_tom Aka Tractor Tom. And Dive with him Saturday and Sunday. Sunday we are scheduled to dive the Speigle Grove.
Dive 1
Liberty ship. This ship was a freighter during the World War II when the government would take them over and convert them to troop or material haulers for the war effort they would give these ships the name Liberty ships. This dive started off bad to begin with and got worse. I was originally suppose to buddy up with the captain since he was going to be doing some video taping of the Oriskany. Since now we were no longer doing the Oriskany the captain says he isnt diving so buddies me up with another couple. But he doesnt do that until after we are anchored. The other catch is the female of the two was very seasick so she was already geared up and off the side of the boat so she could feel better. So she doesnt even know Im diving with her. Her husband knows but jumps over before we can even discuss dive plan turn around time or equipment or anything. I quickly get geared up and jump over the side of the boat. I usually have my camera strap around my wrist but since I was hurrying the dive master just handed it to me once I rolled off the side. So I quickly descend and now my routine is all screwed up I just do my normal thing ear clearing and getting BCD inflator hose ready. And then I realized Im not holding my camera yep you got it it fell to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. So I quickly find my buddies and give them the OK sign even though it isnt Im really ticked off all I want to do is go back and look for my camera but I know if I leave them they wont understand what is going on. So I completed the dive as the best as I could. The ship itself is basically a pile of steel on the bottom not much of it looks like a ship at all. The Vis was about 30 feet when we started and got down to at least 15 or less by the end of the dive. So actually it was like diving in the lakes at home but warmer. I saw my very first MOON Jelly. That was very interesting. Other than that the dive was very uninteresting. Good news though the last group off the side of the boat seen my camera laying on the bottom and brought it back on board for me THANK YOU THANK YOU
Max depth 89 fsw
32 minutes
80 degree at depth.
Dive 2
Material Barges. Didnt get a dive brief on these so I assume they were barges sunk on purpose after they were no more of use to any one. These were in worst shape then the first ones. Looked more like a pile of metal junk spread out on the bottom. There were a few schools of fish but mostley juveniles. I saw another Huge MOON JELLY for some reason Im really fascinated with them now. The viz on this dive was about 50 feet. This dive was very uneventful even took some pictures. I will post them later I dont have any editing software on my laptop.
Max depth 55fsw
50 minutes
84 degrees
Unfortunatly Today the wind was blowing even harder so no attempt was made to go at all.
Even though I came here to dive the Oriskany and didnt get too I still got a couple of dives in and got to see a couple of new sites.
I leave tomorrow for the Florida Keys so stay tuned for some more Dive reports. Im supposed to hook up with or old friend Frankenmuth_tom Aka Tractor Tom. And Dive with him Saturday and Sunday. Sunday we are scheduled to dive the Speigle Grove.
